Protect Our Honour
by Izume Hope
Summary: AU: In a historical world of magic, Levy McGarden and Gajeel Redfox are both put in uncomfortable positions. Luckily, thanks to a fateful meeting, they are able to help each other. To do that, however, they have to get married... [Gajeel x Levy] [Slight Nalu, Gruvia and Jerza]
1. Chapter 1: The Fateful Meeting

Alright, honestly, I have no idea what I'm doing XD I just found this old fanfiction in my draft folder and decided that I actually kind of like it ^^ Sooo, I figured I'd share! If it can make anyone a little happier, that's worth it after all :) So, here you go! It's really short, but I might continue it now I've found it again!

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Summary: The clans of Magnolia are having a hard time: the leader of Phatom Lord is dying and the fight for succession is becoming really nasty really fast. While Gajeel Redfox is trying his hardest to escape from the fight and not become the new leader of Phantom Lord, Levy McGarden is having a hard time choosing the team mate she's going to spend the rest of her time with. When the two of them have a fateful meeting, will they unexpectedly be able to help each other?

—

"No! I _won't_ do it!"

"Levy…"

"_No_! I refuse to choose! I'm… I'm just going to be a lone wolf!"

The short girl came bursting into the hallway, the door slamming into the wall behind her as she turned back to her godfather with her hands clenched to fists. The even shorter man brought his hand to his face and rubbed over his temples with his thumb and middle finger. "Please, Levy, you know that's not how it works."

"I don't _care_ how it works," she dared him with his eyes as she flipped her short hair back, "I've decided. I'm a lone wolf."

She could tell from the fire in his eyes that his patience was quickly wearing thin now. "Levy, you are a member of Fairy Tail. We are a clan of _honour_ and the streets are already in turmoil because of the situation with Phantom Lord. I _cannot_ afford being told that I can't even keep Fairy Tail under control!"

"And you're going to make me the victim of that?" she asked him indignantly.

"You're not a victim, Levy!" he snapped at her, "You are part of this clan, part of this family, and all we're doing is asking you to keep the honour-"

"Honour, honour, honour, I am _sick_ of this!" Tears now rushed into her eyes and once more she begged him with her eyes. "Please, Master, don't make me do this! I'm not ready to choose a team mate! If I pick now, I'm going to hurt Jet, or Droy, or both of them! I can't pick one of them, but I can't pick anyone else either! I'm absolutely stuck! Please don't make me!"

Makarov sighed once again. "I'm sorry, Levy. You've turned seventeen, according to the tradition it's time. You've had plenty of time to make up your mind."

"But not _enough_!" Her eyes were absolutely desperate now.

"I can't prolong this, even if I wanted to!" Makarov shouted to the ceiling "Please, Levy, try to understand!"

Levy took some hesitant steps back, as if not yet sure what to do. "I'm trying… I'm trying… But I can't do this, I'm sorry…" With that she turned around and ran.

"Levy!" she heard her godfather call out after her, but there was no way to stop her now. She had to think.

She left the building in a tornado of speed and sadness. At the gate she ran into her best friend, but she ignored the blonde and simply continued her flight. "Levy?" she heard Lucy calling after her, worried, "Where are you going? It's getting dark already!"

Levy hardly heard her and sure did not process the words. She just kept running and running, turning left, right, left, right. She knew every little corner of this town. She passed stray cats, old shops, new shops and finally she found herself in a neighbourhood she would not want to be found. Red lights surrounded her as the women, young and old, stared at her with disdain. It was only when she saw those looks she realised that she couldn't keep on running this way. For a moment she was disorientated and she snuck into a small alley between two brothels. She walked all the way to the back wall and sat down on the dirty ground. With stretched legs and arms next to her body she looked up to the twilight above her head. How did she end up here?

She remembered the look on Master's face and felt tears rushing back into her eyes. She knows he's in a very difficult situation. Jose Porla, the master of Phantom Lord, was dying and every single member of his clan was fighting over the inheritance. Jose Porla had wanted it like this, he'd wanted them to fight over it so that the strongest would become the new clan master. That's why he never pointed out someone. Phantom Lord wasn't exactly a kind guild. Where Fairy Tail was a warm community that didn't kill where it didn't have to, Phantom Lord was the exact opposite. They'd made a sport out of killing as many criminals as possible, without any form of trial. Every citizen feared them, especially the higher-ups, the Element 4 and Redfox. And here she was, defying her master at the time he needed obedience the most. She felt incredibly guilty. But she'd thought about it long and hard and this was the only way. She couldn't choose.

Fairy Tail had a long tradition of choosing their team mates. When the members turned seventeen they teamed up with one other person, often from the other sex. This person became their partner for the rest of their lives, so that most of them also married. Levy had known her time would come soon as well and she'd have to choose someone. But that's just not how she worked! She couldn't pick the person she wanted to eventually marry now, that was insane. She wasn't even in love with anyone. She knew there had been times where partners hadn't married, but she was sure that if she picked either Jet or Droy, her best friends, they would expect her to marry them. Now, she really didn't want to do that. She had no interest in marrying either of them and she was sure she'd really hurt the other person if she picked one of them. In the end, there was nothing she could-

She was abruptly taken from her train of thoughts as an enormous shadow came falling from the sky. She was too shocked to even scream and simply pulled up her knees and pressed herself against the wall behind her. The ground shook as the shadow landed in front of her and her eyes widened at the sight. Then the shadow looked over its shoulder with glowing red eyes. Levy felt her body begin shaking almost uncontrollably and her mouth had fallen open in a perfect 'o'. The shadow then grinned at her, showing her his teeth.

"REDFOX!" she suddenly heard being cried out fiercely. His red eyes shimmered alertly for a moment and he came at her with the speed of a monster. Before she had the chance to yell his hand was over her mouth and he'd pushed her into a corner of the alley. His black figure blocked her entirely and he looked straight in her frightened hazel eyes.

"Keep your mouth closed, shrimp," he whispered in a slightly hoarse voice.

She nodded slowly and her eyes flew across his torso, only to find blood slowly dripping out of an injury on his side. Above their heads the shadows of two more figures jumped from one building to another. "Damn!" she heard one of them curse. Then they were gone.

Her captor glared up at the buildings and released the girl from his grip. For a moment she could still hardly breathe and she just stared up at his profile. "Gajeel Redfox," she then stammered.

The man turned to her again and showed her his grin. "You really have an awful sense of timing, shrimp." He moved away from her and wiped some dirt of his arms. Her eyes widened a bit more at the studs that were pierced through so many parts of his body. She only started to move when he turned around and started to walk away.

"Wait up!" she called after him and she grabbed part of the black cape he was wearing. The difference in their weight caused her to almost immediately fall over as he continued walking. "Woah!" she called out as she fell.

He looked down on her from over his shoulder. "Bugger off, shrimp."

She frowned at him and pulled his cape again. "Sit down."

He blinked in shock. "What?"

"I said sit down!" she repeated irritated as she quickly stood up.

The trump card of Phantom Lord simply stared at her.

"Sit!" she said once more and she pulled his arm to get him down.

Suddenly a little smirk crawled onto his face and he dropped himself onto the ground, almost causing her to fall over with him. She quickly regained her position as he sniggered at her. Levy ignored him and kneeled down next to him, pushing aside his arm to look at the wound on his side.

"What are you-" he now growled.

"Just be still," she cut him off as she got a serious look in her face, "If we don't disinfect this injury now you may get an infection and, trust me, you don't want that."

She pulled out a flacon with a green fluid out of her clothing (let's not go into detail about what part, but let's just say the fearsome Redfox is wondering where the hell it came from) and opened it with her mouth as she applied pressure on the wound with her right hand.

He growled at bit again, this time in very human physical pain. "What's that?" he barked at her.

"Disinfection liquid, what else?" she asked him absent-mindedly as she dropped a bit of the content on the tip of her index finger. She put the flacon away again with one hand as the other started drawing a figure across Gajeel's side. She whispered something's he didn't understand and for a moment he wondered whether this shrimp was trying to poison him, but then the figure on his body became pleasantly cold and he felt his wound closing.

"Magic," he observed.

"Yes," she answered as she stood back up. She knew Makarov would be proud of her if he heard what she'd done. "What were you doing?" she asked him to ban the thought of her master.

"That's none of your business," he replied as he stood up as well.

All of a sudden she had to look up again and she felt very small, but that wouldn't get her down. "Was it about the succession?"

He blinked at her and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you, shrimp?"

"Levy McGarden," she replied professionally "Proud member of Fairy Tail."

He giggled for a bit. "A shrimp like you? Part of Fairy Tail? They really do take everyone available in…" Suddenly his eyes widened and before she knew what was going on he'd grabbed her shoulders. "How old are you?"

"S-seventeen," she replied in confusion, "Why?"

For a moment he blinked in surprise. "You don't look seventeen," he said while he narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

She frowned, irritated. "Well, my mother would be able to assure you I was born exactly seventeen years, twenty-one hours and a few minutes ago."

He cursed and looked away from her for a moment.

"Why?" she asked again, more curiously now.

He glared back at her. "There's no chance you still haven't chosen your partner, is there?"

A sharp pain crossed her face and she looked away. "That's none of your business…" she said softly.

"You haven't?" he pressured her, surprised again.

"It's none of your business!" she repeated while looking straight in his eyes again.

"Well, from today on, it will be," he simply told her.

Confusion returned to her. "What?"

He grinned at her again. "Listen up, shrimp, you fairies are all for the blah blah helping people blah, right?"

"That's really not something you want to say to a member of Fairy Tail."

"Whatever, I'm giving you the perfect opportunity to do just that."

"Say such a thing to a member of Fairy Tail?"

He gave her an annoyed look. "No, helping out. You see, I need to get away for a bit. From Phantom Lord."

"Why…?" she asked, ignoring his insults for now, "Isn't the fight for leadership going on?"

"Exactly. That's why."

She laughed at him and shook her head. "Are you telling me you don't want to become the leader of Phantom Lord?"

"I am," he told her with a serious look in his eyes. The red burned through her and she shivered. But she believed him.

She crossed her arms and looked at him in suspicion. "What do you need _me_ for?"

"I need you to marry me," he replied dead-serious.

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him in shock. "Excuse me?!"

"Not for real," he added irritated, "I need you to _pretend_ you married me."

"What? Why? You're making no sense! Why would I pretend to have married you? That's insane!"

"No, it's not," he said, "Because if I married a fairy, I'd become part of the Fairy Tail clan automatically, right?"

"No," she stated sternly, "No way. I'm already an extreme fool for helping out one of the worst people in town, I am not pretending to marry him so he can get into my clan. Never."

"Come on, it's not like I'd burn down the place! I swear."

"I'm not doing this." She shook her head.

His eyes turned a little colder and he came a little closer while his grip around her shoulders tightened. "Are you implying I won't keep my word?"

"I'm implying that I don't want to marry you," she snapped at him poisonously.

He grinned again. "Well, that doesn't surprise me. But you're gonna have to pretend."

She was baffled. For a moment she could only stare at this villainous creature in pure shock and try to process what he was asking, or rather commanding, her. Pretend to marry him… Pretend to… marry him… Slowly something started moving in her head again and all of a sudden she realised this could be the solution to her problem. If she were to pretend she'd married Gajeel Redfox, that would mean he'd get into Fairy Tail. Then she could pick him as her partner and use the time that he was part of the clan to decide on who her _real_ partner would be.

She looked back at the shadow in front of her. He would be using her. But she could use him as well. She crooked her head a little and gave him a thoughtful look. "You give me your word you won't use this opportunity to harm my clan?"

He grinned again. "Really, shrimp, if I wanted to destroy Fairy Tail I wouldn't go about in such a nasty way. I'd walk in and destroy it. Are you in?"

She sighed. "Fine. As long as it doesn't take too long."

"I'll be gone before you know it," he told her softly and he looked at her again with those intense red eyes. She blinked and somehow she felt a little blush run over her cheeks.

Gajeel Redfox reached to his gloves and pulled a little ring from it. Confused Levy McGarden let him take one of her hands and watched as he shoved the delicate little thing around her pink.

"Well then," he said as they looked up to each other. Her blush deepened.

"With this, you're my wife."

—-

When they were but one turn from Fairy Tail's headquarters she turned to him and put her small hand on his chest. He stopped and looked down on her in silence. She gave him a stern look. "Let me do the talking."

He grinned. "Why? You don't trust my acting skills?"

Levy rolled her hazel eyes. "Because I know what they want to hear. Besides, we'll have to keep you as alike to a harmless little bunny as possible. You opening your mouth won't be a big help when it comes to that."

He raised his hands in a nonchalant gesture. "Sure, it's your party."

"Literally," she muttered under her breath as she turned away from him again and turned the last corner.

It may have taken three seconds before her first ally saw her, but three seconds at most. Somehow she'd underestimated how all Hell broke loose.

"LEVY!" yelled one after another and they rushed towards her, katana's out and faces twisted in either anger or concern. Within a moment they'd surrounded her and her companion and she could tell from the looks in their eyes they were ready to take Redfox out that instant. In a reflex she jumped in front of him and spread one of her arms, shielding him. "Don't touch him!" she screamed angrily as her hand reached for her knife.

All around her people froze, their eyes set on either the fierce young girl or the fearsome monster behind her. The absurdness of the situation had broken boundaries. There she was, Levy of Fairy Tail, the small, fragile little thing with the big mouth and even bigger brains, and she was shielding one of the most notorious people in town, a man almost twice her size. The monster was grinning wickedly and his red eyes seemed to glow in the dim evening light. He was more of a shadow, a silhouette, than an actual person. A dark persona, a ghost. A dragon.

"Levy…" Jet uttered as he took a step forward.

The girl held out her other arm in front of her and gestured for him to keep his distance. "Don't come any closer, Jet" she warned him "I'm not going to let anyone touch him."

"What are you doing?" Droy whispered.

She looked at him, straight into his perplexed and frightened eyes. "I'm choosing."

"Levy."

This time the crowd opened up to let Master come through, followed by Mira, Erza and Lucy. The rest of the girls had stayed inside the building, but these three were the only ones that had been fearless enough to come out. It was a strange sight to see. You had this little old man, his hands folded behind his back, walking through the crowd of men with a stern look on his face. Behind him were those three women. The gentle Mira, a smile plastered on her face but her eyes alert, very feminine. Next to her Erza, a warrior of the highest calibre. Her face showed no emotion at all and her clothing was far from feminine. It seemed like she'd been in the middle of her training. Then, on the far right, there was Lucy, dressed the most feminine of all three of them. Her eyes were deep pools of worry and relief at the same time, staring at her best friend. It was only when she looked into those eyes Levy realised how silly she must look, shielding a man that definitely had no use for her protection. Slowly she lowered her arms as her eyes drifted back to her master.

The man stopped right in front of her and pushed his right hand to his forehead for a moment, as to push back a headache. "Levy," he repeated, this time more a sigh than an actual word. He looked up at her. "What have you done now?"

Levy felt herself shrink. Within the span of two seconds she'd turned back into a seventeen-year-old, not fierce or powerful. "I've chosen," she said. But instead of the steady voice she'd been hoping for, nothing but a whimper came out. She cowered at the sound of it in the slumbering evening air.

"You've chosen," Markarov repeated in the clear voice she'd been hoping to have. He crooked his head a bit and his eyes pierced right through her. "And what exactly have you chosen?"

Levy opened her mouth and for a moment she thought she was going to tell him everything. For a moment she feared she was going to tell the truth and say 'I just need more time'. For a moment she truly believed she didn't have it in her to lie to this man, her guardian, her safe haven, her father. But then a miracle happened.

From behind her she felt the touch of an enormous hand taking hers. She felt his rough skin brush against hers and a little startled she looked back at Gajeel Redfox. His grin had somehow turned into a little smile. She looked down at their hands, a strange entanglement of light and dark. Her eye fell onto the little ring he'd put around her finger. Somehow she felt a little smile crawl onto her lips as well, a warm light filling her eyes for a moment. He caught a glance of it and his eyes widened a little at the sight of something so wonderfully fragile and beautiful. It felt like the universe tingled and twisted for a moment and for the very first time in his life he felt he wanted to protect something. He wanted to protect that fragile warmth that lingered in her smile and tingled in his hand.

Levy didn't notice and turned back to her master, the smile still on her face. And with a voice that couldn't have been a lie, with a voice she hadn't ordered to come out, she said: "I've chosen Gajeel Redfox." The wonder of the words hung in the air between the people. It shot through the air and filled every corner between the people, as a whisper in an empty garden at night. Before Gajeel had recovered from the thing that had happened in his chest when she uttered those words, she continued and sealed everything.

"My husband."


	2. Chapter 2: Oh, The Beauty of Friendship

So, I continued! Like I said to the nonnie the other day, this story somehow just really wants to be written… And who am I to stop it from being written down? I actually wanted a whole lot more to happen in this chapter, but I ended up with this cute little interlude. Introducing a lot more characters to the story and loving it! I hope you guys enjoy, and stay tuned for part 3!

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Summary: The clans of Magnolia are having a hard time: the leader of Phatom Lord is dying and the fight for succession is becoming really nasty really fast. While Gajeel Redfox is trying his hardest to escape from the fight and not become the new leader of Phantom Lord, Levy McGarden is having a hard time choosing the team mate she's going to spend the rest of her time with. When the two of them have a fateful meeting, they decide to help each other: they will pretend to be married until the succession fight is over and the new leader of Phantom Lord is chosen so that Gajeel won't have to be the leader and Levy has more time to think about who she wants her real partner to become. A business arrangement, as easy as that. Or is it?

—

"Husband?!"

Jet and Droy were the first to break the circle and rush towards the couple, blatantly ignoring Gajeel and getting into Levy's face.

"What do you mean husband?!" Jet asked with a high-pitched voice.

"You're kidding, right?!" Droy asked almost at the same time.

Instinctively intimidated, Levy held Gajeel's hand a little tighter. "I'm not kidding," she answered them with a stubborn frown, "I'm serious. I married Redfo- I mean, Gajeel." His name rolled off her tongue with a strange simplicity, like she was moving a piece of candy through her mouth.

In disbelief, Droy roughly pulled Levy's hand from Gajeel's to look at the tiny ring around her delicate finger. Both he and Jet brought it close to their eyes and stared at it with disturbing precision. Then they looked up to her again, absolutely baffled.

"But why?!" Jet asked.

"What kind of question is that?" Annoyed, Levy tried to wrench a hand from their grip. Nevertheless, they seemed to hold on even tighter. "Isn't it obvious- guys, seriously, let go of me."

Jet and Droy's eyes widened even further when, from behind Levy, Gajeel's now free hand shot up to pull their fingers from Levy's wrist. They let go in shock and thereby allowed Gajeel to pull Levy back towards him. Startled herself, Levy looked up to him from over her shoulder. His eyes were set on Jet and Droy and he was clearly irritated. For a moment, she couldn't help but blush. Then she scolded herself for that reaction. What was she thinking? He was just annoyed they were disregarding him so much, it was that simple. She gulped for a moment and looked back at her two closest guy friends, her nose in the air and her stubborn fire in her eyes. "It's because he rocks, of course."

Behind her, Gajeel noticed the fire in her eyes and grinned for a moment. This girl may be a shrimp, she had guts, and he liked that. Besides, it was pretty hilarious to see these idiots be kicked into the dust by a delicate little lady. "Yeah, it's like that," he loudly added, "We're totally into each other. Have been for months now. Sorry for keeping it from you guys. For some reason, I didn't think you'd like me." He sniggered while looking around at the astounded, often disgusted faces of the fairies.

"Like hell we don't!" Jet yelled.

"You're a monster!" Droy added with a low hiss, "I'd rather die than-!"

"Jet. Droy."

Makarov took control of the situation again with his stern, authoritative voice. The entire scene grew quiet and watched breathlessly as he walked up for the four people in the middle of the circle, straight past Jet and Droy to the actual centre people. From up close, he took in the strange couple. There was his precious goddaughter, the smart little girl with the stubbornness of a true warrior, and, next to her, one of the monsters that had been terrorizing the city, a satisfied grin on his face. He looked back at Levy, straight into her big brown eyes. "You chose him?"

Levy's lower lip trembled slightly as she stared right back at him. "That's right. I chose him. B-b-b-b-because we're married."

"I see…"

Levy gulped again while Makarov's eyes slid towards the ring on her finger. Gajeel was still firmly holding her wrist. Something about his attitude told everyone that he wouldn't just let go. And it was true, he wouldn't. This shrimp was his way in, and with that, his way out of the succession war. Besides, he didn't like the looks on some of their faces. People do stupid things when they're angry. He could know, he was an expert when it came to anger. And doing stupid stuff. You don't get the title of 'most violent man in Magnolia' for nothing, you know? He'd kicked his share off ass when he was pissed off. And, honestly, these two guys clinging to the shrimp were kind of pissing him off already.

"Gajeel Redfox," Markarov spoke again, his eyes on Gajeel this time. The tall man didn't cringe under his piercing eyes. Nevertheless, he got just a tad nervous. He wasn't good with politics. It was the whole reason he wanted out of the succession war, for God's sake. "Why Levy?"

Gajeel blinked for a moment and looked down at the girl beside him. For a moment or two he took her in, her delicate, fragile body, her bright blue hair, her fierce brown eyes and the small blush that rose to her cheeks while he stared at her. "Why…?" he murmured. Then he sniggered and looked back to the leader of Fairy Tail. "Because the first time I met her, she told me to sit the fuck down."

"I didn't say it like that!" Levy immediately indignantly protested, "I _nicely_ asked you to sit down."

Gajeel grinned at her. "If that's what they call nice in this place, we might just get along after all."

Levy rolled her eyes and looked away. Nevertheless, her wrist was still steady in Gajeel's big hand. Even from a distance, Lucy could tell that the way he held her may be steady, but definitely not forceful. Rough, maybe, but not aggressive. Lucy's eyes widened when, suddenly, she saw the sparks between the strange pairing. She looked at Levy, and she saw the stubbornness and the fire, ready for a fight any time. And, next to her, the first man Lucy had ever met that was her match in these things. With her brains and his body, if anything, these two were a pair that was not to be trifled with.

Makarov seemed to have understood this as well. After taking one long last look at the tiny ring around his goddaughter's finger, he stared up at Gajeel and slowly reached out his hand to him. He'd been lucky the couple had chosen to come to them. If they'd gone to Phantom Lord, the situation in the city could've exploded. He couldn't risk letting them go. So he had only one choice. "Welcome," he said clearly, his eyes on the shadow that had corrupted their peace, "To Fairy Tail."

Gajeel grinned widely and firmly grabbed the man's hand. "Thanks, old man," he said with a snigger. Around them people gasped, and Levy sighed in relief.

—

Makarov left with Gajeel to talk to him in his private study, and most of the warriors outside followed them in, unwilling to let the monster out of their sight for even a second. Some of them glared at Levy, but she held her head held high and looked back stubbornly. Jet and Droy were still paralysed on the pavement, seemingly unable to hear a thing. When everything was quiet again, Lucy rushed towards her friend with a wide smile. "Levy, sweetheart, just one little question." She grabbed her friends shoulders and shook her roughly. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!" She gave Levy an intense look and her voice turned into a whisper. "Gajeel Redfox? Seriously? That guy is a… a freak! Do you know how many people he's put in the hospital?"

"Th-that's part of his charm?"

"Excuse you?!"

"Jeez, Luce!" Levy wrenched herself from Lucy's grip and took a step back, crossing her arms again. "I like him," she said with those stubborn eyes, "Are you going to keep me away from the only guy I want to be my partner?"

"But you _married_ him! Don't you think that's a little bit enthusiastic for someone we haven't even met before? When did you guys meet anyway?"

Ah, Levy knew they'd been forgetting something. She went bright red as she desperately tried to think of the most logical thing to say. She hadn't discussed this with Gajeel… What if he was telling a completely different story to Makarov at the same time? Damn, what was she supposed to say now?! Okay, think like a vicious member of Phantom Lord…

"Luce!"

Levy sighed in relief again when she was saved by the bell, the bell in this case being Natsu Dragneel, who was returning from a mission with Happy. Lucy turned to him. "Listen up, Natsu, Levy married Gajeel Redfox!"

"Redfox?" Nastsu blinked in surprise and walked up to the girls. "Hah?!"

"Why is everyone so surprised?" Levy mutters annoyed, "He's definitely my type."

Lucy arched an eyebrow sceptically. "Levy, you said your type was an intelligent man with a heart for literature."

"Redfox is intelligent!" Levy protested automatically. Well, at least he was inventive for coming up with this scheme in the first place.

"He's a brick wall with iron firsts," Lucy just answered in that same sceptic voice.

"But with brains!" Levy tried to convince her.

Aside from them, Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "Well, it's fine, isn't it? If she likes him."

"Natsu?!" Lucy looked at him in disbelief.

Natsu just grinned widely. "Besides, if he's in our guild I can finally challenge him for a fair fight!"

Lucy sighed and brought a hand to her forehead. "You're always just thinking about fighting…"

"That's not true!" Natsu now protested, "Hey, Luce, what's for dinner today anyway?"

"Dinner?" Lucy whined, "We're in a crisis here!"

"I don't see any crisis," Natsu said, "Redfox is a pretty good catch for the guild. Besides, if he messes up I'll take him down personally." He smiled and ran a hand through Lucy's long blond hair. "Stop worrying, Luce. It'll be fine."

Lucy sighed in frustration and pushed away his hand. "Unbelievable…" she muttered while she fixed her hair. Then she looked back at Levy and sighed. She smiled warmly at the blue-haired girl. "But I trust you. If you think you know what you're doing, I'll believe in you."

Unexpectedly, Levy felt tears rush into her eyes. She blinked furiously to call them back somehow, which only resulted in some of them falling down. "Thanks," she smiled while she hid her eyes with her arm, "I don't know what I'd do if you didn't."

"Idiot…" Lucy said while she pulled her best friend into a hug, "We're pretty much sisters. I warn you when I think you're being stupid, but I trust your judgement as well." Levy nodded to Lucy's chest and Natsu watched them with a smile.

"Come," Lucy then said as she took Levy's small hand in hers, "Let's go inside. It's getting late."

—

It wasn't until Levy had entered the guild hall that she realised just how lucky she was to have Natsu on her side. With him being the prodigy of the clan, people trusted his judgement. So when he walked in with Levy, all buddy-buddy, and walked over to the bar to demand his dinner from Mira without so much as a word about Gajeel Redfox, rest returned to the building. People immediately stopped glaring at Levy. Some still looked at Natsu, confused by his reaction. Who wouldn't be? Sometimes, he surprised everyone by suddenly acting mature.

Levy was the only one who noticed that he glanced back at her for a moment and flashed her a smile. She realised that he was probably doing it on purpose to protect her. Tears almost appeared in her eyes again. Nevertheless, instead of crying, she winked at the pink-haired mage and smiled brightly.

This didn't go unnoticed by Mira, who was just handing Natsu his well-earned dinner.

"Levy!" With the scariest smile Levy knows, Mirajane left the bar and walked up to her.

Beside her, Lucy gulped and murmured: "Uh-oh. Incoming."

"G-g-g-g-g-g-good evening, Mira!" Levy stuttered while she raised a hand in an awkward wave.

"Why, it was such a surprise to me that you got married!" Mira told her innocently, "We weren't even able to attend the ceremony!"

"I'm so s-s-sorry, Mira," Levy stumbled with fearful eyes, "We just- we just wanted to get it out of the way before people could stop us."

"But still!" Mira said immediately, "It's such a shame!" She was quiet for a moment and both Levy and Lucy could tell from the glimmer in her eyes that now, the real message was coming. "Oh, I know!" The slim woman exclaimed while clasping her hands together. "Why don't we redo the ceremony here, at Fairy Tail!"

Levy's jaw dropped and Lucy answered for her: "What?!"

Mira continued smiling and waved her hand, as if to wave away any possible arguments against her plan. "My, my, it's not that strange, is it? I'm sure you weren't even able to wear a real dress!"

For the blink of an eye, the scene where Gajeel put the ring around her finger shot through Levy's mind. "No," she replied instantly. Then she blushed madly and grabbed Mira's hands. "But it's fine, really! I never liked those things anyway, hahahahahahaha!"

Mira's eyes turned a heart-breaking shade of disappointed. "Ah… But it's the first marriage this guild has had in years… With a stranger too… A wedding would be the perfect moment to get to know him better… You know…" She looked up at Levy with the most perfect smile and both the bluenette and the blonde beside her shivered instinctively. "So that he'll be accepted into the family more easily."

That was… That would of course be a good thing. They had to somehow keep up this farce for a while and they didn't even know how long it would take yet… They had to make sure Gajeel was at least kind of accepted into the group… Levy gulped. "W-w-w-what a great idea, Mira! You're so smart!"

"It's decided then!" Mira answered with bright eyes and she clasped her hands together again, as if to seal Levy's doomed fate. Then she turned to all the people in the hall, most of whom had been following the conversation closely. "We're having the wedding! Next week!"

"Next week?!" Levy yelled, "Isn't that a little soon?!"

"Why would you say that, Levy?" Mirajane asked with a glance at her from over her shoulder, "You're already married, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, but-!"

"Perfect! Next week it is!" Mira walked off, leaving Levy baffled and defeated.

Lucy took her friend's arm and lead her towards a couch in the corner of the hall. "You sure touched a nerve somewhere, Levy…"

Levy whimpered and looked up at her friend. "Luuuucyyyy…!"

Lucy laughed softly and wrapped her arms around the girl. "Oh, you poor thing! Don't worry! I'll make sure she doesn't make it to extravagant. Aren't you a little happy? You'll have a real wedding, you know."

Levy sighed deeply. Yeah, of course that was kind of… Well, it would be pretty nice to wear a wedding dress… They were always so pretty…! But… well, she'd always thought that the man waiting for her at the end of the aisle would be someone that loved her. Not… the dreaded Gajeel Redfox.

"It'll be fun!" Lucy assured her again as she let Levy go, "I promise."

"Alright…" Levy murmured reluctantly, "I'll go…"

"Good!" Lucy laughed, "Cause you'll be the star of the day!"

—

Gajeel's plan had been to sneak out of the old man's study quietly and leave with the shrimp, who would surely be waiting for him outside while stressing out about her friends thinking she'd lowered herself to marrying someone his level. Nevertheless, when he left the room, the shrimp was nowhere to be soon. Worse, he miscalculated the pressure he put on the door and basically slammed it through the wall when he opened it too forcefully. Instantly, all eyes were on him and the entire hall went viciously quiet. Confused, and mostly irritated, Gajeel searched the crowd for the already familiar blue hair of his pretend-wife. Instead, he found a shade of pink that reminded him of delivering a good old beating to someone.

He grinned when he saw Natsu rise from his bar stool, a similar grin on his own stupid face. Natsu Dragneel had always been one of his favourites opponents. He had that fire you saw in too little warriors nowadays. Besides, he never gave up. One day he was going to get himself killed.

"Redfox!" The crowd separated rapidly when Natsu bursted through, his katana already half unsheathed and his eyes shimmering with combativeness.

"Dragneel," Gajeel grinned in return and he sniggered, "Here to take another beating?"

"What's that," Natsu reacted playfully, "You come into my guild hall and threaten me? You must want to get a taste of-"

"Nat-su."

Natsu stood still abruptly and looked over his shoulder. Behind him, Mirajane was smiling ominously at him, Erza right beside her, with something that was probably the extreme opposite a smile on her face. The pink-haired guy gulped and then quickly regained his tough attitude. "What is it, Mira? It better be good, because I'm about to give this-"

"No, you are not," Mira told him melodiously and Erza walked up to him with big steps. Relentlessly she grabbed him by his collar and brought the heavily protesting Natsu back to Mira.

Mira still had that perfect and creepy smile on her face. "We can't have Gajeel looking all messy at the wedding, can we now? No, this week," – she raised her voice at this part – "_No one_gets to put even a scratch on Mr Redfox. Or if they do…"

Erza unsheathed her katana and gave the entire room a terrifying glare. "I'll butcher them."

"Tch." Gajeel was the only one to glare at Erza after that. A fight would have been nice right about now. This place made him uncomfortable. Besides, what was this stuff about a wedding? They were having a real ceremony and all that jazz? That shrimp had some explaining to do. Although, if he looked at the scary white lady over there, he knew that she was probably the one to come up with the plan. She looked like something to keep an eye on. Somehow, that delicate little thing gave off the vibes of the real deal.

Erza arched an eyebrow when she caught Gajeel's glare, feeling slightly challenged, but Mira nipped that confrontation in the bud quickly.

"If you're looking for your wife," she told him from across the room, "I saw her walking towards the library."

The library? The shrimp was a bookworm too? A bookshrimp? "Of course," he grinned at Mira, partially talking to her and partially to himself, "I should've known."

Mira gave him another smile that was warm nor cold and he sighed. "Well, you heard momma," he grinned at the room, "No fighting Mr Redfox today. We wouldn't want a wedding with all the guests in the infirmary."

A hiss ran through the crowd and Gajeel sniggered again. "Gihi." With that, he walked off in the direction of where he hoped the library would be. The shrimp and him had some talking to do.


	3. Chapter 3: Opposites Collide

So, there it is, hohohoho~ Part three of the thrilling adventures of married enemies Gajeel and Levy. Aren't they just adorable? Well, maybe not just yet. They're just getting to know each other, I suppose. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and I'll be sure to have the next part ready next week!

—

Summary: The clans of Magnolia are having a hard time: the leader of Phatom Lord is dying and the fight for succession is becoming really nasty really fast. While Gajeel Redfox is trying his hardest to escape from the fight and not become the new leader of Phantom Lord, Levy McGarden is having a hard time choosing the team mate she's going to spend the rest of her time with. When the two of them have a fateful meeting, they decide to help each other: they will pretend to be married until the succession fight is over and the new leader of Phantom Lord is chosen so that Gajeel won't have to be the leader and Levy has more time to think about who she wants her real partner to become. A business arrangement, as easy as that. Or is it? When the two of them are forced to actually get married, tension builds up…

—

Levy laid on the wooden floor of the library, surrounded by all the books she was reading or using for her research. She spent most of her time right in this spot, close to the fire and hidden from curious eyes by rows of paper protectors. However, instead of being engulfed in her research about dragon magic like most of the time, today she had nothing but a notebook in front of her. In it, she was writing down a couple of possible scenarios. She had some questions she needed answered.

Where did they meet? Why did she become acquainted with him? When did she fall in love? And why?

She was disturbed by an enormous shadow that appeared in front of her and blocked her from the light. Irritated, she looked up to tell the person who stood in her sunlight off. She felt a small rush of instinctive fear when she noticed the person was Gajeel Redfox. Levy blinked for a moment. Ah. Right. No danger.

He must have noticed her fear, cause he smirked a little in contentedness. Somehow, that annoyed her and Levy pledged to herself that she would never be scared of him again. There was nothing to fear. He was her partner, after all. Her scary, big, powerful partner.

"Took you long enough," she said while she looked back at the notebook and sucked on the tip of her pencil.

"The old man had a lot to say," Gajeel replied. He crossed his arms and tilted his head a little, looking down on the girl on the ground. She really looked like a bookworm from this position. A small, blue-haired bookworm.

"Anything interesting?" she asked while putting a strand of escaped hair behind her ear.

"Nothing. Just blah blah blah."

"Could you get out of my sunlight?"

Wordlessly Gajeel stepped aside and the warm light fell over her body again. He looked at her for a moment or two. Yes, a bookworm, but… The way she laid on the floor like that, her hair tied up with a bit of string, her brown eyes narrow and concentrated on the paper and her delicate hand dancing letters across the surface, she was undoubtedly a very pretty little thing. She looked like a child and a strong young woman at the same time. He had no idea how she did that.

"What did you tell him?" she then asked without getting her eyes off of the paper.

Gajeel sighed and sat down on a window sill a few feet behind where Levy was laying. "I told him someone kicked my ass a couple of months ago and you fixed me with your magic. Since one of the wounds was pretty damn deep, you checked up on me a couple of times after that 'til you were sure I was really fine again and while doing that we started to like each other. Then we got married."

Levy nodded. "Believable enough."

"Oh, he bought it. I'm sure of that." He grinned proudly and looked out the window. Naturally, he'd never been inside Fairy Tail before. That's what you get for being sworn enemies, I guess. It was a weird experience to suddenly be on the other side of the walls he'd tried to kick down so many times. He had to admit it felt a bit like a victory. But more than that, it got him really curious. Finally he'd be able to find out some of Fairy Tail's secrets. He'd been breaking his head over those for a very long time now.

He noticed how Levy had started scribbling down things more fanatically and leaned a little to the right to try and look at her writing from over her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Levy sucked on the tip of her pencil again for a moment, a frown between her eyes. "Figuring out the necessary details."

"I'm no good with those."

"Then you'd better start being good with them."

Gajeel snorted. That cheeky little… "What details?" he barked at her in annoyance.

"The exact place we met," she said while continuing to write, "Where I took you to heal you. Your specific injuries." She looked up at him. "We could say you hit your head and that's why you can't remember the details."

Gajeel grinned at her. "Oh yeah, I just remember how head over heels I am for the shrimp, not where we met or anything."

A blush crept onto Levy's cheeks and she looked back at her paper. "It's either that or start remembering the details."

"Too much trouble. I'll go with the amnesia story."

Levy nodded and put down her pencil. "Then I think I got everything." She got up and sat down on the edge of a table, looking at him. "So," she said, "Tell me a little something about yourself."

Gajeel laughed at her. "What the hell?"

Again, Levy blushed a little. Why did this man keep making her feel like a total fool?! "People will ask questions," she snapped venomously at him, "I need to know the answers. So. Tell me something about yourself, you obnoxious ass."

Gajeel's laughter turned into modest chuckling, but didn't really stop just yet. "There's not much to tell," he managed to say, "I am- was part of Phantom Lord, if you piss me off I will fuck you up and actually really don't give a damn about anything. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Well, that's changed now," Levy told him decidedly, "You care about me."

Gajeel couldn't help but chuckle again at her bold declaration. "Sure, shrimp."

"Maybe you should stop calling me that," Levy told him while grinding her teeth, "I don't think anyone's going to believe it's meant endearingly."

"Then what should I call you? Honey? Darling? Sugar boo-boo?" Gajeel grinned daringly.

"My name is Levy," she told him while crossing her arms. God, this guy made everything into a joke. Didn't he understand they'd be in big trouble if anyone ever found out. "That'll do."

"Levy," Gajeel repeated.

For a moment, they were both silent. It was the first time he said her name. It hung in the air between them, creating a tension that neither of them really understood. The only thing they knew, was that it sounded very good. Natural. The way her name was supposed to be pronounced.

Gajeel coughed awkwardly and broke the tension. Immediately, Levy got up and started putting away some of the books on the ground. She shivered lightly. What the…?

"So," Gajeel said, just a hint of awkwardness still in his voice, "Where do I sleep?"

"With me," Levy blurted out and instantly she bit her own tongue. Too late, of course. She should've bitten her tongue _before_ she said something that utterly ridiculous.

"Hoh," Gajeel grinned in amusement, "I didn't know that was part of the contract. But sure, I'll take you on, shrimp."

"That's not what I meant!" she snapped at him while turning back to face him. She put her hands on her hips and looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Listen, I don't plan on being intimate with someone I don't like in _any way_. So you'd better get that idea out of your head. And _don't call me shrimp_."

Gajeel only chuckled again, completely disregarding her anger. This little girl was kind of funny, really. Annoying, sure, but funny.

Suddenly, Levy seemed to remember something. She gave him a serious look. "There's something else."

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "What?"

"We're getting married next week."

Gajeel relaxed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, I heard, the white-haired momma used it to keep people from challenging me this week. What's that all about?"

"She…" Levy struggled, "I think it pissed her off. Not being there. Or maybe she's suspicious and just wants to be sure. Anyway, she wants us to redo the marriage ceremony. That wouldn't really matter if we were actually married, but we aren't. But from next week on, we will be."

Gajeel shrugged his shoulders. "That's fine by me. It's just a piece of paper and those are really easy to tear up."

Levy nodded in relief. She was glad he didn't make a big deal out of it. Nevertheless, it also annoyed her a little. He really didn't give a damn about marrying someone he didn't love. She, however, did, and she was definitely not looking forward to it. "Good," she told him nonetheless. She put another few books away. "Until that time I'll get you a guest room in the left wing of the building. After we're married, we'll move into one of the larger apartments on the second floor. Considering the difference in our length, I'll be the one to sleep on the couch there."

"Wait a minute," he said, "I'm not just gonna let you sleep on a freaking couch."

She had to admit she was surprised. "W-why not?"

Gajeel looked away awkwardly for a moment and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, you know… Those things ruin your back." Honestly, she looked so small he was sure hers would break after sleeping on a couch for one night.

She wanted to ask him why he cared. Nevertheless, somehow she bit her tongue on time this time. She didn't know why, but this really felt like the wrong time to ask that question. Besides, it was a question she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer to. So, for now, she ignored it. "We'll discuss it later," she decided.

Gajeel nodded in agreement. Fine by him. They'd figure something out. "Your turn," he then said, "They'll probably expect me to know a little something about you, amnesia or not. And you look like you've got a lot to say."

She gave him a poisonous glance for a moment and then sighed. "Levy McGarden, proud member of Fairy Tail. I'm seventeen years old, my best friends are Lucy, Jet and Droy-"

"The nitwits that practically assaulted you outside?" he snorted disapprovingly.

"They were just upset!" she defended them immediately, "They didn't mean to…" Her voice drifted off. "They're just in love with me," she then mumbled while looking away.

Now that was something that had all the potential to piss him off. A lot. Nevertheless, Gajeel grinned. "Then I'll make them so jealous they'll cry."

Again, Levy blushed intensely. Quickly she tried to hide her face by putting a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered unintelligently, just a little confused. Her heart was acting up and she really didn't want to understand why. Was she really that pathetic? Any man that was nice to her would do for her, huh? But… She knew that wasn't true. Otherwise she would've been with either Jet or Droy by now. They'd treated her well and loved her for ever since she could remember. Nevertheless, their words never managed to make her this flustered.

"A-anyway," she continued with a little shake of her head, "I like books. More than fighting, I'm interested in helping others outside of battle, by healing them and doing research that will help them."

"You're a clever little thing, aren't ya?" Gajeel asked.

Levy smiled contentedly. "Obviously. I'm the number one researcher of Fairy Tail."

"Hoh," he said with another grin, "Very impressive."

Was he mocking her or was he being serious? She honestly couldn't tell. Quickly she continued. "My favourite colour is blue. I spend most of my time in here, in the library. If I'm not here, I'm probably somewhere in town checking up on the people or hanging out with Lucy."

"Lucy's that Heartfilia chick, right? The little princess?"

Levy frowned at him. "Lucy is a proud member of Fairy Tail, as we all are. She's no less than any of us, so I'd appreciate it if you'd shut your trap."

"Didn't mean to insult you, shrimp," Gajeel said, "Just confirming whether she is who I think she is."

"Well, yes, she is," Levy answered, "But that doesn't matter here."

"She still got herself the best bodyguard of them all. Always hanging around with Dragneel, isn't she?"

Alright, now he'd done it. "Natsu isn't her bodyguard, he's her friend!" Levy told him angrily, "A concept that, I'm sure, is _completely_ foreign to you! Which I, frankly, don't give a damn about. But don't you dare talk about my friends like that, you punk."

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

"Whatever?!" Shocked, Levy's jaw dropped for a moment. Then she closed her mouth firmly again and grabbed one of the books from the ground. "If you'll excuse me," she said, obviously trying to stay calm, "I have better things to do than listen to you blabber about things you don't understand." With that, she stamped right past him, towards the exit of the library.

What was she going on about now? Gajeel didn't really get it and that annoyed him terribly. "Very well," he said while she walked past him, "I'll see you later, _honey_."

She glared at him from over her shoulder once more and then left the library for real, muttering something about how obnoxious and stupid he was. Gajeel was left alone in the empty room, a little unsure of what to do. He wasn't exactly looking forward to getting back into the guild hall and facing all the fairies there. They didn't really get along that much. But, well, what was he supposed to do in a library? He sighed and then looked around for a moment. Well, seemed like he had to figure out something to do by himself. A small grin crept onto his face. Guess it was about time to start discovering the secrets that this building had been hiding from him. Who knew, they could be of use to him one day…


	4. Chapter 4: Ice In The Air

Alright, alright, let's keep these characters coming, shall we not? The first part of this may seem a little odd (you're allowed to be as confused as Levy) but I promise it will all make sense in the end I am in love with my own subplot ahahahaha~ Please enjoy the beauty that is the dynamics between these lovely characters! 3

—-

Summary: The clans of Magnolia are having a hard time: the leader of Phatom Lord is dying and the fight for succession is becoming really nasty really fast. While Gajeel Redfox is trying his hardest to escape from the fight and not become the new leader of Phantom Lord, Levy McGarden is having a hard time choosing the team mate she's going to spend the rest of her time with. When the two of them have a fateful meeting, they decide to help each other: they will pretend to be married until the succession fight is over and the new leader of Phantom Lord is chosen so that Gajeel won't have to be the leader and Levy has more time to think about who she wants her real partner to become. A business arrangement, as easy as that. Or is it? When the two of them are forced to actually get married, tension builds up…

—

After their small fall-out in the library, Levy decided to leave Gajeel to his fate. Maybe it was a little childish to just let him figure out where he'd be sleeping that night all on his own, but he had really managed to rub her in the wrong way and, honestly, she feared that if she saw him again so soon she might shut him up forcefully.

That's why by the time she woke up the next morning, it had been over twelve hours since she had last seen the asshole that was her husband. That might have been the reason that, just for a moment, she had forgotten about him entirely. She just lay there, in the middle of her small bed, and stared up at the ceiling. Judging by the amount of sunlight that flowed into her room through the closed curtains, it was already quite late in the morning. Ten, maybe eleven. That was strange, since normally she woke up between eight and nine on a regular day. She must have been tired.

And that was probably been the thought that had reminded her of his existence. She sighed and closed her eyes again, trying to rid herself of his image.

Ah. Yeah. Redfox. Of course she was tired, she'd skipped a night of sleep the day before, when she met him. After they'd arrived back at Fairy Tail in the morning, she'd gone straight to the library to figure things out. It was kind of familiar for her to forget to sleep like that. If levy was focused on something, research or training or something like that, she could easily just not notice that the hours were passing, that light turned into dark and back into light. Like that, she had missed entire days of her life. Then again, those days had definitely existed, because during the time she had 'lost', she had learned a whole lot about the world and the magic in it.

With a sigh, Levy brought a hand up and rested it on her forehead. Somehow, she felt like she was hung-over, which was maybe not as ridiculous as it sounded. If anything, Gajeel Redfox was definitely a narcotic.

There was something about the silence in her room that made her feel uncomfortable. For some reason, she felt like it was the silence before the storm. That feeling inside of her grew stronger and stronger, until she said up straight with confusion in her eyes. Although the autumn of that year had not even really started yet, her room was cold and Levy had goose bumps on her arms. Although that could have informed her of what was about to happen, she didn't make the link.

That's why she practically suffered a heart attack when, all of a sudden, someone burst into her room. Icy drought rushed into the warmth and safety and quickly reached her. Levy shivered in her night gown, too shocked to look anywhere else than the face of the person that had just entered so violently.

Gray Fullbuster was looking at the floor. He still had one hand on the doorknob and was absolutely out of breath. Unaware of it himself, his breath were little clouds in the freezing air around him. As usual, he wasn't wearing any shirt. Levy could see the breath in his lungs rise and fall with his pale chest. When he finally looked up, his face was twisted in anger. The girl couldn't deny being just a little scared.

Without warning he came charging towards her with big steps, stopping right in front of her bed with his eyes trying to carve his emotions into her. Levy sat there, frozen (not literally, mind you), which seemed to be kind of her thing when angry, big men came up to her angrily.

"Are you fucking insane?" the ice mage asked her furiously.

Slowly, Levy started to comprehend what this could be about. Redfox. Of course it was Redfox. Seemed like he really brought nothing but destruction. She and Gray weren't exactly close, but if this actually ruined their hardly-existing friendship, she wasn't sure she'd be able to forgive herself.

"I'm starting to think I might be," Levy muttered while she bit her lip.

Gray didn't even hear her. "Gajeel Redfox?" he hissed, "That's… He's a member of _Phantom Lord_. You can't- You can't _do_ that!"

Levy knew she had to say something. "He's not anymore, Gray." Her voice was soft and just a little apologetic. She had always looked up to the ice mage. "He's here now."

"_Why_ _is he here_?" Gray replied, the hiss still in his voice, "You can't _trust_ them, Levy. None of them! They're just… He's out here to get us, don't you get that? _He's tricked you!_ He's just after Fairy Tail, nothing more!"

"He's not a liar," she couldn't help but blurt out indignantly. Sure, Gajeel was obnoxious and cruel, but she was sure of that. He had not lied about wanting out of Pantom Lord.

Nevertheless, Gray just laughed mirthlessly. "_Of course_ you believe that, you're in love with the guy! Which is as _delusional_ as it gets!"

"I…" Levy had a hard time finding words. She wouldn't admit it, but she was baffled by his sudden appearance and his fury. He was honestly overly pissed off. She didn't understand why. "I admit he's not my usual type-"

"He's _Phantom Lord_," Gray interrupted her, articulating the name of the enemy clearly and darkly, "You can't _trust_ them, Levy."

"Well, what if you can?" the rebel in her started to protest, "What if, surprise, surprise, Gajeel _actually_ likes me? He came here with me, didn't he? He gave up Phantom Lord, he gave up the fight for succession! For me!" (The other way round of course, but well.)

"Listen to me," Gray said while he put his hands on her shoulders. Strangely, that annoyed her. It was the exact same thing Gajeel had done when she first met him in the alley, but this was completely different. Gajeel had put all his hope, all his wishes, onto her. He had asked for her help, and she had given it to him. Gray, on the other hand, was trying to get her back in line. And if there was anything Levy 'rebel' McGarden did not like, it was being 'in line'.

"I'm not blaming this on you," the boy in front of her continued, "None of this is your fault. But this is a _mistake_. All they do is _lie_, Levy. The only reason he is here is to destroy Fairy Tail from the inside out and let Phantom Lord take full control over the city. José has probably promised him the crown if he does that. There is no way he really…" His voice drifted off and Levy had the strangest sensation.

Normally, that last comment would have truly upset her. What did he mean 'there's no way'? There's no way Gajeel could love her? There's no way someone could actually like her? There's no way she could be looked at like that, no way she could influence someone like that? How could he say that?

But, for some reason, she felt none of that indignation or hurt, because it didn't feel like he was talking about her at all. Confused, she looked him in the eye. "Gray, what's going on?"

That made Gray, who had been glassily staring off into nothing, snap out of it. He looked at her and took his hands off her shoulders. For a moment, she saw so much confusion and frustration in his eyes. It was like someone had challenged his deepest believe.

Could it be that he had a hard time accepting the world wasn't as black and white as he thought? That there were actually people on the 'evil' side that were really not that evil at all?

He didn't give her the time to ask. As swift as he had entered, he was gone again, leaving Levy shocked between the traces of ice in her room.

—

"Something's wrong with Gray."

"O, hey Levy," Lucy said with a smile as she watched her best friend get on the bar stool beside her. She tilted her head and her eyes glowed playfully when she continued: "Where's your husband?"

"Did you even hear me?" Levy's eyes remained serious. "He was acting _seriously_ strange."

"Wait, that blockhead is already back from his mission?" Natsu asked from the other side of Lucy. He was currently eating an amount of noodles Levy wouldn't be able to down in a week. "That bastard. He didn't even come to fight me."

Levy frowned. Of course, Gray had been on a mission, that's why he hadn't been there yesterday. But, somehow, the fact he came straight to her after he heard about Gajeel confused her even further. Why was this so incredibly important to him? If he came from a mission, he must have checked in with Makarov first. If there was anyone Gray trusted, it was Makarov, and he had accepted Gajeel into Fairy Tail. It was strange for Gray not to follow his lead.

"Is that… ice in your hair?" Lucy reached out to pluck some frost from Levy's head and looked at it in surprise. "Wow. Gray must have been seriously upset to leave behind ice like that. He didn't lash out at you, did he?"

Levy shook her head. "No, he was just trying to warn me, I think. And convince me to get rid of R- Gajeel." She really had to find a way to start calling Redfox by his name without stumbling.

Lucy didn't seem to have noticed it. "Yeah, he won't be the last," she nodded, "Not everyone is happy with the arrangement."

"Well, they'll just have to suck it up," Levy answered with her typical amount of riot in her voice. She crossed her arms. "I picked him, he's my partner now, so there's really nothing they can do about it."

"Exactly," Natsu agreed with his mouth full of noodles, "Besides, you two are married, you're in this for life anyway. He wouldn't want ya running away from the guild either, probably. Just ignore him."

"Thanks, Natsu," Levy said with a smile, trying to ignore the assumption that she would never get rid of Gajeel Redfox again. She really didn't want to think about that in any way.

"Seriously though, where is Redfox?" Lucy asked again.

Levy sighed and puts her elbow on the bar, resting her chin in her hand. "Since marriage doesn't equal knowing where he is all of the time for forever, I have no idea." She was quiet for a moment and put a strand of blue hair behind her ear. It's a thing she always did when she was a little embarrassed or ashamed, but she wasn't aware of that herself. Lucy, however, was. Nevertheless, she let Levy continue without saying anything. "I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon, actually."

Lucy blinked. "What? Why?"

Levy coughed softly. She wasn't exactly about to tell Lucy it was because he had basically called her a pretentious little princess and Levy didn't stand for people insulting her best friend. "We, uh… We bickered a little. You know, about, uhm, married stuff."

Lucy arched one eyebrow and, behind her, Natsu mirrored that movement, looking at her from over his bowl of noodles. "Really, if anyone is married here, it's you guys," Levy muttered.

"Married stuff, huh?" Lucy asked her sceptically, ignoring Levy's comment. As usual, though, a little blush crept onto her cheeks. Levy wondered when Natsu would finally figure out how much Lucy was in love with him.

"Yeah, married stuff." Levy twirled a strand of hair around her finger and looked anywhere but Lucy and Natsu's faces. That was probably a very bad idea right about now.

"And, what exactly is this 'married stuff'?" Lucy pressed on.

"I don't know," Levy reacted, a little annoyed (mostly because of herself, she hated it that she was such a bad liar), "Just stuff! About… About the wedding."

"He didn't exactly strike me as the type to be interested in that," Natsu snorted while he turned back to his noodles.

"Actually, he's very invested in our relationship, thank you very much," Levy snapped. Of course, it was the exact opposite. Gajeel Redfox didn't give a damn about Levy or even the façade they were trying to hold up. She was very much aware of that.

She was getting married to a man that didn't spare a thought for her.

"Speaking of the wedding," Lucy said, "Mira said she wants to go into town with you tomorrow for your dress."

"At least I'll have some say in that," Levy sighed. She knew exactly how this would go. Mira would take care of absolutely _everything_ and the wedding would be over before Levy would even register it being there. Luckily, she could at least pick her own dress. Hopefully.

With another sigh she got off the bar stool again. "I should probably look for him. Apologise or something." No way she was actually doing that. It was his fault for being such a douchebag. But maybe she shouldn't have just abandoned him like she did. He was a stranger here, after all, and a must unwelcome one. She was the only ally he had. Then again, he was probably used to being in a place without many allies. Phantom Lord wasn't exactly known for its group bonding sessions.

Lucy nodded. "That's probably a good idea. He probably hasn't eaten much since yesterday. Besides, if the wedding is off because of some lovers quarrel between the two love-birds, I'm pretty sure Mira Jane will go on a killing spree."

Natsu snorted in agreement beside her and put down an empty bowl (if you could still call it a bowl, it was absolutely enormous). "I'll check up on Gray. He's probably just pissed off cause I swept the floor with him in our last dual. Maybe I'll go easy on him today."

Lucy patted his back as he got up. "Sure thing, Natsu. Go get him." She rolled her eyes at Levy and Levy smiled warmly at her in return.

"Thanks, Natsu," she then said to the pink-haired mage again, "I'm kind of worried about him."

"Just leave it to me," he answered, and with one more nod he walked off, hands in his pockets. Lucy looked after him with a soft sigh.

"Should we just make it a double wedding?" Levy teased her.

Another blush rose to Lucy's cheeks and she slapped Levy's arm. "Shut up, Levy. Go have make up sex with your husband or something." The blonde grinned when she saw a blush that was far more impressive than her own crawl onto her best friend's face.

"We don't…" Levy muttered grumpily, just a hint of panic in her voice. Lucy knew that voice like the back of her hand.

"Ah, still a blushing virgin, then?" Lucy continued.

"I- I'm going now!" Levy said, her voice just a little higher than normally. She turned around and stamped off with small, embarrassed steps. Lucy chuckled and shook her head, watching her until she had turned the corner.


	5. Chapter 5: Rainstorm

WARNING From this chapter on, there will be Gruvia. I tried not to write it, I tried, but I failed. I totally failed. So, if you're not a fan, I just wanted to warn you beforehand. On another note, the Gajevy cuteness continues~ Finally, THEY MEET AGAIN and how will that play out…? Also, sorry I'm late with this latest chapter. I'll try to be on time again next Saturday 3

—

Summary: The clans of Magnolia are having a hard time: the leader of Phantom Lord is dying and the fight for succession is becoming really nasty really fast. While Gajeel Redfox is trying his hardest to escape from the fight and not become the new leader of Phantom Lord, Levy McGarden is having a hard time choosing the team mate she's going to spend the rest of her time with. When the two of them have a fateful meeting, they decide to help each other: they will pretend to be married until the succession fight is over and the new leader of Phantom Lord is chosen so that Gajeel won't have to be the leader and Levy has more time to think about who she wants her real partner to become. A business arrangement, as easy as that. Or is it? When the two of them are forced to actually get married, tension builds up…

—

The sun had risen again before Gajeel knew. Somewhere along the line he must have fallen asleep, although he'd sworn to himself almost a thousand times that 'there was no way in hell he could fall asleep on a heap of books with a pillow case'. Everything in this entire freaking library seemed to be made out of books. The cabinets, the tables, the couches, books! Everywhere. He didn't even like reading.

She found him lying on his back on a couch in the back of the library, bathing in sunlight. He was covering his face with an open book that he was holding with one hand. It was a gruesome thriller, called 'Replica'. She'd read it when she was fifteen. It hadn't been one of her greatest idea. She could still recall the explicit torture scene and shivered at the sight of the book.

Then Gajeel moved up the open book a little to glance at her. "Took you long enough," he told her.

Levy arched an eyebrow and then shrugged her shoulders. "This was the last place I looked for you."

He groaned and closed his eyes. "Seriously? I go to the one place you're supposed to spend half of your time, being the smartass I am, and it is _the last place you look for me_? How _stupid_ do you think I am?"

"So you slept here?" she asked him while she sat down at a table near his couch, ignoring his comments.

"Obviously," he said with another groan, "Since _someone_ refused to show me to a normal fucking bed."

"You pissed me off," Levy snapped defensively. Nevertheless, a small blush ran over her cheeks and she put a tress of hair behind her ear. Of course she knew she'd behaved like a child.

Again, Gajeel groaned. He didn't like it in the slightest that this shrimp being upset could mean he didn't have a bed to sleep in. He was very fond of being in control, thank you. And this girl may be smart, but she was also at least five years younger than he was.

He didn't ask how he pissed her off. That did kind of surprise her. She would have asked, if the positions had been reversed. How the hell was he supposed to stop pissing her off when he didn't even know how he had? OF course, she shouldn't have expected him to care. But that was dumb of him, because she was the one holding the strings here. She could make his life miserable in Fairy Tail if she wanted to. Not that that was exactly her style, but she did have the power to! He honestly didn't seem to understand any of that.

She startled a little when Gajeel sat up straight all of a sudden and put down the book beside him. He stretched (making some weird crunchy noises while he was at it) and yawned for a moment. God, that mouth was freaking enormous… Then he caught her staring and grinned. "Like what you see, shrimp?"

Immediately, her annoyance was back. "I told you to stop calling me that, Redfox. My name is Levy. And, no, I don't like what I see."

She did, though. She just… didn't understand why. Just look at this man! His arms were three times hers, he was so tall and buff, his hair was… long, and extremely wild. And all those piercings…! Did he honestly have them everywhere? Like… everywhere? He was literally the opposite of the kind of men she was attracted to. _The opposite_. But he just…. He had something. Something kind of handsome, she supposed. Kind of. A little. In the right light.

Gajeel snorted half-indignantly and got up. "So, what's the plan for today, darling boo?"

Levy shivered and raised her hand to stop him. "Stop. Just stop. I'll make a list of accepted nicknames, just please… No more."

Gajeel sighed and dramatically ran a hand through his hair. "I really can't do anything right in your eyes, can I…?"

"You could shut up and listen?" Levy told him sickly sweetly.

He had a slightly impressed sparkle in his eyes for a moment. Then he put up his hands for a moment and sat back down. "Fine. Hit me."

Levy sighed, half relieved he finally shut up and half simply tired. This man exhausted her in ways no one ever had before. "It's not that complicated, really. We just have to convince everyone that we're _actually_ in love."

"But we're not," Gajeel blurted out.

Levy arched an eyebrow again. "And that's relevant because…?"

Gajeel shrugged his shoulders. "No reason, I guess. I'm just saying I don't really know what it means."

Levy froze for a moment at his honesty. She… He just kept on surprising her. How did he do that? "That's… Well, yeah, I don't know either, I guess, but I've read a _lot_ of novels so I think I have an idea of how people in love behave."

Now Gajeel arched an eyebrow. "You're not going to give me homework, are you?"

Levy shook her head. "No, that would take too much time. Can you even read…?"

"Will you stop insulting me? It's pissing me off."

"Yeah. Sorry. Just… I mean, I'll just tell you the basics."

Gajeel sighed and gestured for her to go ahead. A lecture on being lovey-dovey from a baby shrimp. When had his life gotten so fucking out of hand?

Levy crossed her legs on the chair (he wondered how the hell that even worked anatomically) and closed her eyes for a moment. She had a little frown on her forehead that he already recognised as her thinking frown. "Well, the convenient part is that there are thousands of ways for people in love to act around each other. It's all about the dynamics between two people, you see. With us, it would be… Well, we should just keep it simple. The whole 'I'm the only one who's allowed to be mean to them'-thing, I think."

"Uh. Can you elaborate?"

"You know, just… Bickering a little, you can be the sarcastic little shit you are, but the moment someone else looks at the other the wrong way you get fiercely protective, like that?"

Gajeel nodded. "I can do that." That wouldn't even be that hard. He would just be 'protecting' her for the wrong reasons: to stay inside Fairy Tail.

"Great," Levy said while she unfolded herself (really, he thought, how the hell did she do that?) and got up. She walked up to him and reached out her hand. "Shall we go, Gajeel?"

For a moment he didn't even hear her. He just sat there on that couch and looked at the girl in front of him and the hand that was extended to him. It was a small hand, of course, delicate and pale. Nevertheless, it didn't look like it would break if he touched it at all. It looked a lot stronger than it was supposed to. When he looked up at her face, she was smiling at him. He didn't realise he was returning her smile as he took her hand and got up himself, towering over her with her hand in his. "Sure thing, Levy," he grinned.

Levy blushed lightly and smiled to herself a little longer. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

He knew exactly where to find her. For a moment, he wondered why. Then he pushed aside the thought, like he had done with so many before it. There were a lot of things he couldn't think about and the number just kept growing. And it was all her fault.

The bar was practically empty. Of course it was, it was hardly twelve o'clock and it was not like this bar offered lunch. It was strange for a place like this to even be open during the day. Most of these places opened in the evening, when the guests would come. Then again, there were always a couple of people present in 'The Black Stone'. Loners, weirdos, friendless people. He had no reason to be there, if you looked at it like that. He was a bit of a loner, sure, but he could just as well be a loner back at Fairy Tail. People accepted him there and would leave him alone. Which was, of course, the exact same reason why the other two stereotypes didn't apply to him. Sure, his stripping habit was a little weird (thank God he had remembered to put on a shirt after he left Levy, although he had no idea how long it would stay on this time), but Fairy Tail liked him for it. He had friends. He had a family. He had a guild.

But here he was, storming into the bar, looking around frantically. He found her at a table near a window, staring outside while mindlessly playing with a teaspoon, tapping it against her cup of tea rhythmically. She was wearing a long, dark blue dress that seemed a little too warm for this time of the year. Her coat was draped over the back of her simple chair and her back leaned against the leg of her chair, also blue with a butterfly on it. Her long, blue hair fell to her shoulders like a waterfall and, _God_, she was beautiful. Her pale skin shone like marble and even though she wasn't looking at him, he could imagine the colour of her cunning eyes, a shade between sapphire and onyx. And her lips, oh her lips…!

He planted his hands on the table in front of her with a furious thud. The woman yelped and looked up with big, startled eyes. Nevertheless, the moment she laid eyes on him, an equally tender and excited sparkle appeared in that mixture of sapphire and onyx. A smile that had all the danger of taking his breath away took over her face. Instead, he grinded his teeth to keep himself in check.

"Gray-sama…" Juvia Lockser stammered, her voice sounding more like a melodious sigh than an actual vibrating of vocal folds, "I didn't know you were back!"

"What is that _shadow monster _doing in my guild?"

Juvia blinked and a hint of worry took over her face. "Gajeel-sama? Have you found him?"

Gray followed her lead and blinked as well. "What do you mean 'found him'?"

"He went missing," Juvia told him while she put a tress of long hair behind her ear. Gray was momentarily distracted by the movement. Her fingers were long and pale and her hair had a supernatural shine. "I haven't seen him in days," the woman continued, "Where is he? No, wait, don't tell me!" She raised her hands to stop him in his tracks, although Gray was not exactly about to say anything. Then she let her hands fall again slowly and stared at the table. "If I don't know they can't get it out of me."

"Why are they looking for him?" Gray asked as he finally straightened his back.

"Because he's a valuable contestant in the race for succession," Juvia told him in a matter-of-fact tone, "That's why they want to get him out of the way." She shook her head lightly. "I thought someone might have gotten to him…"

"You mean they want to _kill_ him?"

The woman nodded and played with the teaspoon between her fingers. Gray glanced down at it for a moment and his mouth went dry. Quickly he looked up at her face again. "Everyone is killing each other," Juvia said softly.

"Are they trying to kill you?"

She looked up at him, straight into his eyes, causing him to shiver lightly. This goddamn woman… "Yes," she said, "They're trying. But they can't." She looked outside and Gray could hear thunder in the distance. As he followed her gaze, small drops of water started falling out of the sky and paint figures on the window. "They can't even find me."

If her own guild couldn't, then why did he always know where she was? Again, Gray shook his head to get rid of the thoughts in his head. "You don't want to be the successor?" he asked her surly while he crossed his arms.

Juvia went quiet for a moment and glanced up to him from under her terribly long eyelashes. "I just want to be with you…" she then confessed in the softest voice.

Gray froze in his place and gulped uncomfortably for a moment. "You're lying," he snapped at her, trying to ignore the hurt in her eyes as he did, "And so is he. He _tricked_ one of my friends into falling in love with him and forced her to marry him so he could get into Fairy Tail."

Juvia's jaw dropped. "Marry?! Gajeel's married?!"

The shock on her face seemed so genuine. All her emotions always seemed so genuine. He was always on the verge of believing her, he was. But he didn't. He couldn't. "Like you didn't know," he snapped on, "So what's the plan, huh? Destroy Fairy Tail from the inside out? Then become the successor of Phantom Lord? You two are such good buddies, I'm sure you know, you _Phantom Lord_."

The rain started getting heavier. "I have nothing to do with this!" Juvia was evidently upset, "I told you, I don't care about Phantom Lord! And Gajeel doesn't either, he would never want to be the successor! I admit I didn't expect him to fall in love, but people fall in love under the weirdest circumstances, you can't stop it! I fell in love with you!"

"No, you didn't!" Gray screamed while he landed his fists on the table once more. Some of Juvia's tea spilled. "You are just trying to get into my head so that you and your _disgusting guild_ can _destroy_ Fairy Tail!"

Juvia now jumped up too, thunder as her back-up vocals as she clenched her own hands to fists. "That's _not_ true, I love you! _I love you_, and no matter what you say and no matter how much you deny it, _that won't change_!"

"You're lying!" he screamed again, "Why would you love me? We're enemies!"

"You saved me!" she called out.

"I fought you!"

Their voices got louder and louder to be heard over the sound of the thunder.

"You let me live, you showed me the sun!"

"I should have killed you then?!"

"Of course not, but the fact that you didn't made me-!"

"Think you could use me? Think you could get to my guild _through me_?"

"For _God's sake_, Gray, it made me fall in love with you!"

"You're lying!"

He startled when he saw tears rushing into her eyes. "I'm not!" she yelled, "I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!" With that, she grabbed her back and her coat and walked away quickly, sobs leaving her throat as she tried to wipe away her tears.

He watched her as she opened the door of the bar, her silhouette contrasting with the grey rain in front of her. For a moment it was like she let the vicious wind embrace her. Then she stepped into the veil of water and disappeared.

Gray slammed his fist against the wall one last time and growled frustrated. When he looked up, the barkeeper was staring at him. "I'm sorry," Gray grumbled and he grabbed some money from his pocket to throw onto Juvia's table. Then he, too, stormed out of the bar, into the rainstorm. It felt like the whole sky wanted him to suffer.

Gajeel and Levy walked into the main guild hall hand in hand. Since it was only the second time people actually saw them together, and one of them was a hated enemy, Levy wasn't exactly surprised to hear everything quiet down, just so that a soft mumble could start moments later. People whispering behind their hands, glaring at them. Without a sound, the odd couple walked to the bar, where Erza was cleaning one of her armours.

"I feel tiny," Levy muttered as they crossed the room.

"You are tiny," Gajeel answered her with a snigger.

"Watch your mouth, before I start telling people _you're_ tiny in _all the wrong places_."

Again, that slightly impressed sparkle appeared in his eyes. This girl had bite, and he liked it. There was lot more to her than meets the eye, or so it seemed. And part of him _really_ wanted to find out what it was.

"As if anyone would believe you," he grinned.

"Who knows, I am supposed to have first-hand experience after all."

"I wonder if you could still lie after you've actually seen the real thing."

"I wonder if you could still be alive after I've actually seen the real thing."

"I'm pretty sure I could handle you, wifey."

"I'm pretty sure you could not, hubby."

He was about to continue the fun when they reached the bar and Levy greeted Erza.

"Hey Erza."

"Hi Levy," Erza told her with a smile. She nodded at Gajeel for a moment. Seemed like she'd already forgotten their incident from the day before, which was probably for the best. He could use all the allies he could get.

"So, how are you two?" the red-head added while she continued her cleaning.

"We…" Levy looked at Gajeel for a moment before she continued. He only shrug his shoulders lightly. "We had a bit of a quarrel yesterday," Levy decided to answer truthfully, "But we're fine now. I might have… overreacted a little."

The bluenette could feel that he was staring at her. Yeah, just take it, this is as close to an actual apology as you will get. Without her knowing, she did the thing where she put a strand of hair behind her ear when she's ashamed. Gajeel couldn't help but smile lightly.

"It wasn't that big of a deal," he then told Erza, "I guess we're not used to being married yet, don't you think, baby?" He put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer for a moment.

Levy blushed furiously and tried looking anywhere but to him. "Y-y-y-y-yeah."

Again, he couldn't help but smile, although this time he couldn't repress a snigger either. Inconspicuously, she elbowed him.

"Well, that's great," Erza said calmly without looking up, "Marital problems are usual, in the end. It happens to the best. When my husband doesn't listen to me, we tend to quarrel as well." She looked up at Levy and grinned. "You just have to put them back where they belong."

Levy laughed. "I'll remember that."

"Have you _seen_ how much taller I am than you? You can't put me anywhere if you wanted to," Gajeel protested.

"You can if you push the right buttons," Erza said innocently while she looked back at her work.

Levy blushed again and Gajeel grinned. "Oh, she pushes all the right buttons."

"Shut up," Levy hissed, this time elbowing him a little less inconspicuously.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Levy," Erza told her without looking up this time, "You're a healthy young woman, it's normal for you to want to-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Levy stammered and she nervously tapped her finger against her leg, "I am not having this conversation."

"What conversation?" Mira Jane appeared from the kitchen and gave her a bright smile.

"_The one I'm not having_," Levy answered and she tried to ignore Gajeel's rude sniggering, unsuccessfully of course. She looked at the people in front of her, one by one. Gajeel, Erza, Mira. Then she sighed and sat down on a bar stool, resting her head on it and raising one hand. "I need a drink."


End file.
